


the list of things i used to be is longer than the list of things i am

by scirallydia



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Future Fic, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-12 02:36:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20556815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scirallydia/pseuds/scirallydia
Summary: Scott and Malia have a conversation about who they miss, and, well...they decide to do something about it.





	the list of things i used to be is longer than the list of things i am

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: this is not gonna stick exactly to canon lol I’ve only seen part of s6 because I gave up halfway through it airing BUT the only canon thing I appreciate after s4 anyway is Hayden Romero the love of my life so
> 
> enjoy <3

Scott and Malia are laying on the bed in Scott’s childhood room, both still a little damp from spending the afternoon at the Beacon Hills Community Pool. His room is warm: it’s upstairs, summer, and his mom still can’t afford air conditioning. The window is open, a slight breeze making the curtains lazily drift back and forth.

Next to him, Malia sighs. Scott hums a questioning sound. The sheets rustle as Malia turns onto her side and props up her head with an elbow.

“Who do you miss?” she asks.

“What?” Scott asks, thrown off guard by the question.

“It smells like longing in here,” she says simply. “From both of us, actually.”

“Maybe that’s just the sweat,” he teases.

“Scott,” she says. It’s now Scott’s turn to sigh.

Scott graduated from college last week, a year early. He’s living at home with his mom until he goes back to school in the fall to get his veterinary degree. He’ll be a doctor, even if his patients won’t be human. It feels surreal to think about how three years ago he was lucky just to graduate high school with passing grades, considering all the crazy shit that happened. And now he’s on his way to a stable profession that he actually enjoys doing. Sometimes it feels like he’s still holding his breath, waiting for the next bad thing to happen, the next enemy he has to face. Like he will still have to risk his life yet again to save the people he loves, only to lose them all anyway.

“Miss a lot of people,” he says, facedown into his pillow.

“Well, who?” Malia asks.

“A lot of them are dead.”

Malia blinks, maybe surprised by how blunt he was, which is kind of her thing.

“Same here,” she says. “But maybe it would be better to talk about it.”

Wanting to talk about feelings? Now that’s Scott’s thing.

“Allison,” he says, wanting to be open with Malia, to show her he appreciates her asking. He does, even if he’s being grumpy about it right now. “Always somewhere in the back of my mind, Allison.”

“I miss my sister,” Malia says. “Sometimes I think I would be a lot different if she had lived.”

“Erica. And Boyd. I think we would’ve become actual friends if we’d had a chance.”

“My mom. Not my biological mom, my real mom.”

They both sit in silence, remembering. Then Malia says, “What about people who are still alive? Anything we can actually do something about?”

“I miss Derek. When he’s not in Beacon Hills. It feels weird, like, like I shouldn’t miss him? And I spent a long time hating him. But now, I like it when he’s here…it’s like, he’s pack. But it’s not like we can ask him to stay in Beacon Hills more. I-I would never ask him to do that.”

“Soooo…I shouldn’t finish this text asking him to come visit?” Malia looks up from her phone. Scott smiles and rolls his eyes.

“No, definitely send it.”

“I like it when Derek visits too. It’s nice to be around family that isn’t Peter.” Scott hears the tap of Malia’s finger on her phone as she hits send.

“So, do you feel better yet?” she asks.

Scott pauses. “No. I still miss…”

“Stiles,” they say at the same time.

Stiles is in D.C., trying to meet the requirements to become an FBI agent. He’s away for most of the year, and Scott mostly doesn’t blame Stiles for leaving him and the pack in California. Mostly.

“There’s nothing we can do about that. When he’s back, he’s back. When he’s gone, he’s gone.”

“I know,” Scott says. “It’s just hard that he’s away all the time. To do the same damn job my dad does. I hate it.”

“Screw him,” Malia says immediately.

“My dad? Or Stiles?”

“Both. For leaving you. And fucking you up.”

Scott raises an eyebrow. She mostly means his dad then.

“I think I turned out pretty okay,” he says with a smile.

There’s silence for a while. Scott closes his eyes and rests his hands under his head. Malia has somehow found a stray tennis ball under the bed and throws it over and over again at the wall.

_Thunk. Thunk. Thunk._

Scott debates whether or not to bring up what he really wants to talk about, one person he misses but keeps shoved at the bottom of his heart. There’s always a longing there, but Scott knows it would be ridiculous to do or say anything more than silently pine. It’s been too long.

Malia leans over the side of the bed to turn on the fan. A soft whirring noise starts up. That’s why Scott almost misses it when she says it, despite the werewolf hearing.

“I wish Kira was still here.”

Scott waits for Malia to continue.

“She actually…she’s a good listener. Not like Stiles or Lydia, who think they know what you mean, even if they don’t. Kira would actually take me seriously and not treat me like I’m dumb. And…”

Scott rarely has seen Malia at a loss for words. In fact, he would venture to say he never has.

“I think she liked me. No, I know she did. I could smell it on her. But I was too busy with Stiles and she was too busy with you. I never told her I liked her like that. If I could tell her now, I would.”

Scott doesn’t know what to say. His heart aches for Malia, now that he knows she’s feeling the same way he feels too.

“Okay, now who’s your person? I know there’s someone. Please tell me it’s not Kira too.”

“No. Uh, I mean I miss Kira, but. Do you remember…do you remember Isaac? Isaac Lahey?”

“He was one of Derek’s betas. And then he moved away after Allison died.”

“No. Well, yeah, he was one of Derek’s betas. But that didn’t last very long. Derek kicked him out and Isaac lived with here with me and my mom for a while. And then, Allison’s death was really hard on him, after everything he’d…we all…had been through.”

“He seriously lived with you?”

This is bringing up all sorts of memories Scott has tried to tamp down on: sharing beds and soft wrist touches and working after school at the animal clinic and eating breakfast together. Isaac smiling at him. Being happy to be surrounded by Isaac literally all the time. Scott has no idea why he didn’t see it then, can only justify it by telling himself there was a lot going on, too much to notice what was slowly creeping up on him.

“Yeah. And we were. Well. Um. We were really close. It was never like…well we never actually admitted to having romantic feelings but I think they were there for both of us. At least, I hope they were. Our friendship was kind of intense, but not like me and Stiles or me and Allison. It’s like…we trusted each other really quickly but it was easy because we both just knew that the other would have our back. When he left, that really messed me up. I didn’t show it to many people because there was a lot going on and I was grieving Allison. I was kinda mad at him for a while, that he could just leave while I had to stay and deal with her death alone. Only Lydia really understood what I was feeling. And then Argent made it clear that Isaac really didn’t want to talk to any of us, at least right away. And…I never did. There was no way for me to get into contact with him either, at least that I could afford.”

Malia stares at him for a second.

“Scott, are you telling me you’re in love with someone you haven’t talked to since sophomore year of high school?”

“I feel kind of ridiculous now.”

“You are,” Malia says. “But that doesn’t mean this isn’t important.”

She suddenly starts packing up her things from where they’re strewn across Scott’s room.

“I have to go,” she says. “I have an idea. I’ll text you later.”

Just as she’s leaving, Scott grabs her arm.

“Hey. We’ll find Kira,” he says. “And we’ll get her to come back.”

“France will be easier,” Malia replies. “That first, then Kira.”

“Why will France be easier?”

“Scott.” Malia says, dumbfounded.

“What?”

“No one who’s met you _hasn’t _fallen in love with you. It will be easy.”

“Oh. Okay.”

And that’s how they decide to visit France first.

***

Scott totally would have thought that going to France would be expensive enough to wipe out his savings; it’s not like he’s been able to build much up. School has cost him a lot, and rent is high. He and his mom take turns sending each other extra money when they have any.

He worried about the cost of plane tickets, about staying somewhere, about paying for food. He thought he would have to wait until the end of the summer, right before school started back up, before he would be able to afford everything. It’s not like Malia has a ton of money lying around either.

It turns out, though, having rich acquaintances can get you places.

Malia’s idea about getting to France works. She guilts Peter into buying the two of them plane tickets, and Argent offers to pay for somewhere for them to stay for a week. Derek and Braeden send them some extra money for transportation and food. Scott doesn’t really feel guilty about all the help. Once he and Malia make the decision to go to France, Scott’s itching to go, to see Isaac. The need is so overpowering that some days he can barely eat. He can’t stop imagining what it will be like when they finally see each other again. So yeah, he takes the money. 

He and Malia have an 11 hour flight to Paris. At the takeoff, Malia’s claws come out. Scott puts his hand over hers, partly to remind her to retract the claws but mostly to comfort her.

“I’ve never flown before,” she says.

“I only have a few times,” Scott says. “All in California. Mexico was the first time I’ve ever been out of the country.”

“That’s good” Malia says through gritted teeth. “Distract me.”

“With what?”

“Tell me stories. About anything…Tell me about Isaac.”

“’Lia.” Scott knows he sounds pained but he can’t help it. He’s so nervous about what will happen. Ever since they got on the plane he’s been wondering if he should’ve tried to contact Isaac somehow, let him know they were coming. But it is definitely too late for that.

“What do you want to know?”

“What was the first moment you really knew that you liked him?”

“Uh…well. It’s hard to tell.”

Malia shoots him a look.

“Okay, okay, um. There was this one day, Isaac comes into the animal clinic looking for me. This was in the middle of a lot of stuff that was going down, same as always. And he asks me, should he stay. Because the other betas in Derek’s pack, Erica and Boyd, they were going to run away and Isaac was pretty sure he was going to join them.”

“That doesn’t sound like someone you would like. Someone who would run away?”

Scott smiles. “You do remember you used to talk about doing that too?”

Malia scoffs. “I didn’t know better. I was still in coyote mode. I would obviously never leave you now.”

“Well, there’s more. That day at the clinic, there was this dog in an extreme amount of pain. It was dying. Deaton and I explained to Isaac that he could help take away the dog’s pain. Isaac didn’t know yet, that that was something he could do. So after Deaton told him and Isaac took away the pain, he started crying. I told him that the same thing happened to me when I first learned, too. And then later, when I thought Isaac had made a run for it, he showed up at the lacrosse game. And I felt…it’s hard because I loved Allison so much it was hard to think of anything else, but I felt hopeful. Like it meant something that he showed up, that part of the reason he did was for me, even if maybe it wasn’t, if maybe I just gave him an excuse to stay.”

Malia seems like she has fully recovered from the takeoff now. She leans toward Scott as much as she can, hooked on what he’s saying, although she’s expressionless.

“Now I get it,” she says, satisfied. Scott decides to leave it. Her explanation would probably be too spot on anyway. He already feels vulnerable for deciding to go to France in the first place.

“What about Kira?” he asks. “How did you know with her?”

Malia shrugs. “When we danced in the club in Mexico, I knew for sure there was something there. But I was with Stiles so I thought that maybe all people danced like that with their friends, even if we were using it as a cover. But then I realized I wanted to do more than just dance with Kira. And I was still in a relationship that I thought was the one, but it was the only one I’d ever had, so I didn’t know. And then she left. I miss her every single day, more than anyone else.”

Malia and Scott both look at each other, equally miserable. Malia leans her head on Scott’s shoulder and they stay like that for most of the flight, leaning on each other for comfort.

Whatever might wait for Scott in France, at least he knows where Isaac is and has the chance to speak to him. He can only hope that finding Kira will work out half as easy.

***

Scott and Malia find Isaac’s apartment fairly easily, mostly because Argent gave them the address. It’s quickly confirmed as soon as they step out of the taxi. Scott can already smell that Isaac lives here. He still smells like _pack._

He and Malia dropped their bags off at the hotel first, not wanting to be encumbered by them, in case they’re not invited to stay. Scott doesn’t want to come across as more presumptuous than he’s sure he already is. They’re already showing up on Isaac’s doorstep unannounced; they don’t need to bring all of their bags too.

Scott steps up to the door, Malia a few steps behind him on the sidewalk. He knocks on the door and…nothing. Scott waits a few moments, maybe someone is coming down the stairs, but he doesn’t hear anyone.

He knocks again and….nothing. This moment is turning out to be kind of anticlimactic. A third time, a little louder this time, but still no response. He turns his head back to Malia, says, “Maybe he’s not home?”

“Maybe Argent gave us the wrong address,” Malia says, eyebrows raised.

Before Scott has a chance to reply, the door snaps open a few inches and a voice barks out, “What do you want?”

A small, pale woman with a pixie cut has opened the door and is scowling at him. Scott is a bit taken aback. Who is this?

“I’m, uh, I’m looking for Isaac? Isaac Lahey. I’m an old friend,” Scott says.

The woman doesn’t respond so he continues, “I was told he lived here. Do you know him, or maybe where he is?”

She continues glaring. Scott, frustrated, takes a deep breath, _oh_, and then instantly gets mad at himself for not realizing sooner. This woman standing in front of him is definitely a werewolf, and Scott is willing to bet she’s an omega. Some True Alpha he is.

His approach clearly leaves something to be desired; he hasn’t given this woman a reason to trust him yet. He glances back at Malia again, who shrugs her shoulders, as if to say, _you expect me to be better at this_?

“Can I- I’d like to see Isaac.”

“Who are you?”

Shit, he’s completely forgotten to introduce himself.

“My name is Scott McCall,” he says, and lets his eyes glow red so she can see that he’s the same as her.

This almost makes her warier. Her face gets tense and Scott knows what she’s about to do next so he sticks his foot in the door just as she starts to shut it.

“Please,” he says, desperate. “I’m a friend.”

“Like hell you are,” she says, and Scott moves his foot out of the way before she breaks it by slamming the door.

“Well that went horribly,” Malia says.

Scott can’t help but huff out a laugh. Leave it to Malia to be brutally honest about it. He sits down on the steps leading up to the door and Malia sits beside him.

“What now?” she asks.

“Well, Isaac has to show up sometime. So we keep sitting until something happens.”

“We’re gonna be so _bored_,” Malia says.

Forty minutes later, the door opens again. Scott and Malia are in the middle of reenacting childhood clapping games, the kind that the girls would play on the bus during field trips and on the playground at recess. Malia remembers them pretty well considering she was around that age when she became a coyote- “I used to play with my sister”- and Scott remembers being roped into some of them at recess- “Oh yeah, I used to be a real hit with the ladies for knowing these in third grade.” “Sure you did.”

The two of them turn around, slightly embarrassed. The woman with the pixie cut is back, this time standing next to another woman with dark hair in a long braid. She’s a wolf too.

“Yeah, they look really dangerous,” the new woman scoffs from the doorway.

“He’s an _alpha_,” the other one hisses. Scott smiles sheepishly, gives a small wave.

“Hi there, I’m Scott,” he says. “This is Malia. We’re looking for Isaac, probably should’ve tried to call ahead, but I promise we’re not here to hurt anyone.”

The new one glances at pixie cut, then nods and says, “I’m Maura. This is Annette. We’re Isaac’s flatmates.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Scott says sincerely.

Maura presses her lips together, nods again.

“We’re going to go out on a limb for you,” she says. “Isaac has mentioned you before, but he always smells…hurt. He really doesn’t say much about his past, so we don’t know many details about you. He has mentioned having a shitty alpha before, though, to explain why he doesn’t have one now. How do we know you’re not a bad guy? We know he was running from something.”

Annette stands behind her, arms folded. “Impress us, Scott McCall.”

Scott kind of wants to cry. He swallows the lump in his throat. They think he’s the shitty alpha Isaac was talking about, which means Isaac hasn’t really mentioned him. What if he really doesn’t want to see him? Malia puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Scott doesn’t need to impress you,” she says, a little forcefully. “You should be worried about impressing him. He flew all the way to France to see Isaac again; he didn’t have to do that. You don’t see Isaac trying to come visit Scott.”

“Malia.”

“Scott is the best alpha I’ve ever met and he doesn’t need to try to make himself look good for you. He’s already a good person. He cares about everyone he meets, even if it makes things harder for himself. Like now, he’s being calm even though you two are being complete-”

“_Malia._”

She huffs and stands up, paces down the sidewalk for a second before coming to stand behind him. Her claws are out.

Annette growls while Maura tries to hide a small smile.

“I wasn’t Isaac’s alpha,” Scott says suddenly, the smile giving him courage. “Well, he kind of was in my pack, but it’s complicated. You two will know if I’m lying, but I swear, he and I were good friends. I’m not here for some, like, malevolent reason. I-I miss him. A lot. And I’d like to see him. Please. It’s been too long.”

The two women look at each other and Scott sees an argument play out over their faces then become resolved. Scott tries hard to stay steady.

“He’s not in,” Annette says finally.

“But you can come up,” Maura adds.

“We’ll take it,” Malia says, pushing past Scott to walk inside before he can even register what’s happened.

***

The inside of the apartment is a little worn down, but definitely cozy. All of the furniture is a bit too close together and there are heavy tapestries covering almost every wall. Scott doesn’t feel claustrophobic, though he wonders how Isaac feels, living in this small space.

Scott sits nervously on Isaac’s couch. Well, Isaac and company. There is a ratty woven blanket covering it and Scott sees a few mystery stains. Despite that, the couch is comfortable. It feels well-used. Scott isn’t comfortable, though, because Annette and Maura keep staring at him and then pretending they aren’t. Next to him, Malia’s leg won’t stop bouncing up and down.

Scott tries hard to control his heartbeat, but he can’t.

_Isaac Isaac Isaac._

He’s too excited for what’s about to happen, the moment he finally gets to see his friend.

Scott hears Isaac before he opens the door, hears the footsteps coming up the stairs and approaching from the hallway. Which means he also hears the beat Isaac pauses before opening the door, smells the confusion. Scott’s heart stops in his chest for a second. How will Isaac react?

And then the door opens and there he is. Scott hasn’t seen Isaac since the tenth grade, so he uses that to justify the surprise at how good he looks. He looks more grown up now, takes up a bit more space. Stands taller. He’s wearing a long cardigan that looks insanely comfortable, just like the ones he used to wear. Scott loves seeing Isaac look so soft, so content.

Isaac drops the bag he was holding.

“Scott.”

It sounds breathless.

“Isaac. Hey.”

The moment feels infinite. The two of them just stare at each other for a moment, Scott joyous, Isaac unbelieving. Then Scott stands up and Isaac crosses the room in about two steps. And they’re hugging, a crushing hug, tight and close. Scott breathes in the scent of Isaac’s neck. He can feel Isaac’s nose nestled in his hair. _Isaac is happy to see him. _He wants to stay like this forever, but he manages to pull away to look Isaac in the face.

“Lahey.”

“McCall.”

“Your hair is longer,” Scott beams.

“Yours too. I like the beard.”

“I hate it,” Malia says.

For the first time since entering the room, Isaac’s attention turns away from Scott. His arm stays around him, though.

“Oh. So Isaac, this is Malia. Malia, this is Isaac. Um, Isaac you might remember Malia, she was around a little bit before you left.”

“The werecoyote we helped find.”

“Yeah.”

“Who got mad that we helped turn her back. After I got my leg stuck in a bear trap for her.”

“..yeah.”

“And now she’s clearly in your pack.”

“I got over it,” Malia says. “I like Scott.”

Isaac grins. “Scott McCall, you haven’t changed at all in five years.”

Maura clears her throat. Isaac suddenly seems to remember where he is. The arm around Scott’s back disappears. He looks between the two groups, clearly trying to figure out what to say.

“So, you two have met my flatmates?” is what he settles on.

“Mhm,” Scott says. He doesn’t want to deal with this, wants to keep hugging Isaac, to be near him.

“You got your leg stuck in a _bear trap_?” Annette says. “What kind of shit did you used to get into there, buddy?”

“What do you mean when you say Scott hasn’t changed?” Maura asks. “Is he not the bad alpha?”

Isaac’s eyes widen. “We’ll talk about this later.”

“There’s a whole lot going on here we need to discuss,” Maura says intently, waving her arms.

“How long are you two here?” Isaac asks, desperately trying to change the subject. Scott chuckles a little at the familiarity between the roommates.

“A week,” he says. “Argent told us where to find you and booked us a place to stay.”

“Cancel it,” Isaac says immediately. “You’re obviously staying here.”

“Great,” Annette groans.

“Where are your bags, anyway?”

“We left our stuff at the hotel. Didn’t want to assume anything. It has been a while, dude.”

“Annette would love to help you go get your bags and cancel your booking,” Maura says sweetly. Annette just bangs her head against the wall.

“Let’s go,” Malia says, grinning wide and looping her arm through Annette’s. “You’re gonna need to talk to the front desk person for me, I broke one of the door handles when it wouldn’t open. And can we stop for food on the way back?”

The side of Scott’s mouth turns up and he says, “You know, sometimes I can believe that you’re Peter’s daughter.”

“Shut up,” Malia says, then leaves.

“_What?_” Isaac says.

“_Dude. _You’ve missed a lot.”

***

It’s getting late when Scott, Malia, and Isaac decide to call it a night. The three of them have been talking for hours, getting caught up on each other’s lives. Maura and Annette went to bed a while ago. At first they were fascinated to learn all about Isaac’s old life –he clearly had not given them many details- but once it dragged on, Scott could see the pair growing tired before they finally said goodnight and shut themselves up in their shared room.

Malia is curled up in the armchair, knees pulled up to her chest. Scott and Isaac have been sitting on the couch, neither quite wanting to go any further away from each other. Scott thinks of how far apart they’ve been for so long and doesn’t think he can bear having to do it again.

“Can werewolves get jetlagged?” Malia asks, interrupting the middle of Scott and Isaac’s conversation, having stopped adding comments for the past half hour.

“We should get to bed,” Scott says, realizing how late it is.

Isaac smiles, pats Scott’s knee, stands up.

“Malia, you can take the couch,” he says. “I’ll get you some blankets and pillows. Scott, you can stay in my room.”

Hesitates.

“If that’s okay?”

Scott yawns, says sleepily, “Nothing we haven’t done before.”

The two of them did used to share a bed a lot when Isaac lived with Scott, when either one or both of them frequently had nightmares or was paranoid about sleeping alone. The first few times whoever was in the other’s room would sleep on the floor, but they both soon realized how ridiculous it was to do that when Scott’s bed fit both of them just fine. And it was reassuring, having Isaac smell like him and be close to him. Both of them had been looking for support, and that’s exactly what they found in each other.

Isaac smiles. Scott can smell the relief.

Isaac’s room must be the bigger of the two bedrooms. It’s a corner room and has fairly large windows on the two outside facing walls. Scott is thankful for the little things, like how Isaac has managed to find two women who, even if they don’t know all of his traumas, gave Isaac the space he needed. And gave him a place to belong when Scott couldn’t provide it, which isn’t a little thing.

There’s enough room on the bed for both of them, even for two not-so-small werewolves. Scott digs around in his bag for his pajama bottoms while Isaac brushes his teeth in the bathroom across the hall. The two switch and the routine feels familiar, even in an apartment in France thousands of miles away from where they last did this. The years between them seem to grow smaller.

When Scott is done in the bathroom, he comes back in Isaac’s room to find Isaac already lying in bed. Scott listens for a second, hears Malia fast asleep, and satisfied, gently closes the door behind him. The room is bathed in a soft yellow glow and Scott’s heart beats hard against his chest. He crawls in next to Isaac and pulls up the covers. Isaac reaches over him to turn the lamp off.

The two of them lie in comfortable silence for a while, just breathing, listening to the sounds of the city below. Eventually Scott migrates to his side, facing Isaac. He plays with the sleeve of Isaac’s t-shirt before his hands shift lower to hold onto Isaac’s bicep. And it’s silent again until:

“Scott?” Isaac asks.

“Mm,” Scott hums from where his face is pressed against Isaac’s shoulder.

“Why…why are you really here? It’s not just to visit me, is it?”

Scott is a lot more awake now than he was ten seconds ago. He’s worried if he answers too honestly he’ll scare Isaac away, but if he doesn’t tell enough of the truth Isaac will know he’s lying. He decides to keep it simple.

“I missed you. When I realized how much, Malia suggested we come see you. We’re going to go find Kira next, Malia misses her a lot.”

“Malia is in love with Kira,” Isaac says, and it’s not a question.

“Yeah,” Scott breathes.

“So what does that mean for us?” Isaac asks. “What does it mean that you came here?”

Knowing it will probably be the wrong thing, Scott says, “I’m worried if I say too soon, it will be too much. We just found each other again. I- I’m scared, dude. This is a lot, even for me.”

“Say it,” Isaac whispers, looking into Scott’s eyes. Manifests his need into the room. “Please Scott.”

“I want to be with you.”

Isaac’s arm curls around Scott’s neck and pulls him closer. His other arm comes up over Scott’s shoulders. It’s kind of like the hug from earlier except lying down.

“I’ve tried to stop imagining you saying that,” Isaac says. “I don’t regret leaving, I had to do it. But sometimes I would think about what we could have been, if I had stayed. And it would eat at me. Not just ‘I’m letting Scott down’ but also ‘we never even had a chance to say something to each other.’ I need you, Scott. I’ve needed you, but sometimes you have to move on for your own good, right?”

Isaac laughs quietly, unhappily. Scott sniffs, removes his face from Isaac’s chest. Wipes away something wet from his eye. Somehow, he missed it, but they’re both crying.

“It’s not too late,” Scott says.

“It feels like it’s five years too late to be hung up on each other like this,” Isaac replies.

“Maybe it’s actually perfect timing,” Scott says. “Life and death aren’t hanging over our heads like they used to; we have nothing but time.”

Isaac starts crying a little harder. “You’re always so damn cheesy, but it’s still charming. How do you know all the right things to say?”

“I’ve had a lot of practice saying all of the wrong things.”

Isaac laughs at him through the tears and ruffles Scott’s hair in response. The two of them curl up into each other as close as they can. Scott imagines they’re trying to merge bodies. It’s soothing to have his ear by Isaac’s chest, hear his heartbeat. Know that he has someone who likes him who is warm and solid, even if there might be some bumps in the road to completely getting together. And when he wakes up in the morning, he can’t say who even fell asleep first.

***

Scott and Isaac are in the tiny kitchen preparing dinner, Scott quickly chopping veggies (thank god for wolf reflexes, makes prepping dinner way faster) while Isaac cooks chicken on the stove.

The flatmates are gone, both at work, while Malia sits outside on the front steps, smoking a cigarette.

(“We’re in France, right? Isn’t this what French people do?”

And Isaac slides her the pack he keeps in the drawer in his bedside table with a defensive, “Don’t judge me, McCall. Can werewolves even get cancer?”)

Scott warms another pan to heat up the tortillas in, complains, “Dude, I can’t believe we couldn’t find any of the right peppers here. Do the French not like spicy food?”

Isaac groans. “That’s one of the few things I miss about California. Being able to get decent Mexican food haunts me in my dreams. Tacos and enchiladas dance around my head taunting me.”

Scott snorts. “We’ll just have to make do. I’m pretty good at that.”

“Yeah,” Isaac says softly. “You are.”

There’s a few moments of silence while both men work on cooking different parts of dinner. Maura should be home soon, while Annette will be home later; Isaac already said he would save a plate for her. Neither of them are from the U.S., so both had wrinkled their noses at hearing that Scott and Isaac were cooking a hometown dish.

“Isn’t American food just like, snack food and cheeseburgers?” Maura had asked.

All three Americans had burst out laughing before Scott, loose and happy from just being here, said, “Yeah, maybe in some places, but California has a lot of different foods from different places. And anyway, we’re making Mexican food, with family recipes passed down to me by my mom. It’ll be super good.”

And so here they are, Scott in a literal different country, cooking one of his family’s recipes. It’s sort of surreal to be in a European country trying to recreate something that his great-grandmother cooked while trying to feed her family in their small Mexican village. It doesn’t smell quite like how his mom makes it, but Scott blames that on the stupid French supermarket for not having all the ingredients he needed.

Scott and Isaac are finishing up when Scott decides to break the silence. There’s something he’s been wondering, and the feeling of familiar but not quite familiar cooking has him feeling sort of strange, like the floor disappeared when he wasn’t looking.

“Isaac?” he asks.

Isaac looks over from where he’s getting plates out of the cupboard, starts smiling until he notices Scott’s expression.

“Why did you never- I mean…How come…You could’ve visited me,” Scott finishes.

Isaac sits down next to him at the table.

“I could’ve,” Isaac agrees. Which…Scott was not expecting that.

“Then why didn’t you?”

“At first, I was adjusting and I kind of thought…You know how when someone checks into rehab or something similar, they aren’t allowed to contact the outside world right away? Or like in the military, they do that too, to make it easier to adjust to what the institution wants you to do, how they want you to act. It felt like that. Like, if I talked to anyone from Beacon Hills too soon, especially you, it would make me want to come back. And I wasn’t ready to do that. I needed to be able to start healing myself and it was never going to happen there.”

“And then?” Scott asks. “After you started the healing process? I missed you dude, but I couldn’t afford to call France, let alone fly there. I didn’t even have a phone number for you anymore because it was your American one. And you’re not on any social media.”

“You could’ve asked Argent,” Isaac says, a bit defensively.

“I know,” Scott says sadly. “It’s just that I spent a lot of high school trying not to die, so stuff like calling you, normal relationship stuff…I told myself I would do when I wasn’t busy trying to save everyone from dying or killing each other or being possessed or whatever else came up.”

“I didn’t want to deal with all of that again.”

Softly: “I wouldn’t have made you, you know that.”

Just as soft: “It was too hard, Scott. I thought too much time had passed to reach out again. I didn’t think we would ever see each other again.”

Scott smiles. “And then I showed up on your doorstep. Kinda funny how life works.”

“My life needs to be funny or else it would be too tragic,” Isaac says.

As much as Scott wants to make another joke, to say something soothing to make Isaac feel better, he has another question he has to ask before he gets too nervous.

“Would you ever consider coming back again?”

Before Isaac can answer, Malia comes barging in through the door. She heads directly to the food and helps herself to a plate while Scott stares at Isaac and Isaac stares at the table.

“Scott, this food smells so good!” she says loudly.

And then, just when Scott thinks it can’t get any more awkward, she turns to Isaac with a face full of food and starts speaking. “That’s why we’re here, you know. To see if you’ll come back to Beacon Hills with us. Scott smells like the loneliest motherfucker I’ve ever met when I bring up your name. Like, so so sad. You really should think about leaving here.”

Isaac finally looks up, a little shocked. “I can see now how you and Stiles dated for so long.”

“Oh, fuck you,” she says casually. “And fuck Stiles too.”

At this Isaac cracks a grin. “Malia, I wish I would’ve known you in high school. I’m a sucker for a troublemaker.”

Malia blinks. “You know me now. We’re friends now, right?”

“Yeah, I think we are.”

The three of them start chatting again in the kitchen, the awkward moment come and gone. Isaac’s flatmates come home, they all eat dinner, and spend the rest of the night talking and smoking some sort of werewolf weed in the living room. The subject of Isaac coming back to Beacon Hills isn’t brought up again.

***

Although Scott prefers California, he has to admit, France is beautiful. Especially because he’s here in the summer, it’s green everywhere. And while Scott loves living by the preserve- he actually does, despite being bitten there- there’s something about the old architecture, about being in a different country that tugs at his heart.

Or maybe it’s Isaac. Probably just Isaac.

Scott and Malia are leaving tomorrow, having made the most of their week in France. Isaac has shown them his favorite spots in the city: parks, restaurants, even a museum. Scott is a little surprised by that last one, but Isaac isn’t the same kid who avoided doing his chemistry homework in the tenth grade.

The two of them are walking on a bridge right now, over a lazily flowing river. It reminds Scott of a long ago date with Allison, when the two of them skipped school to hang out together in the preserve. Except a lot of things have changed.

Scott and Isaac stop halfway across to watch the water flow beneath them. People walk below on paths on either side of the banks, enjoying the nice day.

Isaac slips his hand in Scott’s. Scott leans his head on Isaac’s shoulder. They’ve been doing this this past week, small touches here and there. Since that first night they haven’t really talked about what they’re going to do when Scott goes back, if they’re going to continue their relationship, if they even have a relationship.

It still gives Scott butterflies, though, every time Isaac touches him. He wants to be able to keep doing this for as long as he can, as long as Isaac wants to do this too.

Scott rubs his thumb against the back of Isaac’s hand, delighting in how it feels to be able to be around this man that he loves- he really loves- and have him be so close. It’s way too soon to tell Isaac he loves him, but Scott hopes to get there one day. Even if Isaac doesn’t come back, they could make this work. He has Isaac’s new number now. Hell, he knows his address, could write him letters if he wanted to.

The sun is starting to set, casting a brilliant orange onto the water below. Scott doesn’t want to go back home tomorrow, but he can’t stay in France forever, couldn’t afford it even if he wanted to. He likes being close to his mom and to the rest of his pack. He could never move to France and would never ask Isaac to move back to California for him, even if he desperately wants it, can picture what it would be like.

Lydia’s voice rings in his head, tells Scott he’s being stupid for not going after what he wants. Malia’s voice is saying why doesn’t he just ask, if Isaac says no then he can figure out how to deal with that, instead of not asking in the first place. Stiles’ voice appears, says there’s nothing more important to being close to the ones you love. Which is rich, considering the real Stiles is currently not following that advice.

And then Kira’s voice rings in his head loud and clear. It simply says: Tell him how you feel, even if it’s awkward. Things will work themselves out. No matter what happens, you will get through it.

It makes Scott remember why he misses her so much. When the other voices, well-meaning as they are, become too much, the advice too conflicting. He doesn’t need someone to pass judgment, he needs someone to listen to his struggles and just comfort him that he will be okay. He feels sad when he thinks about her, but also reassured, calmer than he was before.

Just talk to him. Tell him how you feel.

“Scott-“

“Isaac-“

“Oh, what were you going to say-“

“No, you go-“

They both pause, and then finally Isaac speaks.

“I don’t think I can do it, Scott, I don’t think I can go back. I’m worried it will be really, ah, triggering for me to live there again. And I’ve had a lot less troubles since coming here. It’s been quiet for years.”

“I would never ask you to come back if you didn’t want to.”

“I know.”

“I’m not living in Beacon Hills forever, you know? I’ll start school again in the fall.”

“And then you’ll be back there for every holiday, and then where will I be?”

“With me. If you want to.”

Isaac tugs his hand away to fold both arms on the bridge railing. He looks sullenly into the water.

“I have a job, Scott. And an apartment, and friends, and a life. Don’t be mad that you don’t like where your place is in it.”

And that stings. Scott feels called out. He knows he was risking a lot by showing up here, expecting Isaac to see him and be blown away. Of course they’re going to disagree on things, especially when they haven’t seen each other in years. Especially when Scott is right on the verge of asking an impossible question, which is why he hasn’t asked it. He decides to approach with something a bit easier.

“Just, if. Can you answer something for me? No ulterior motive in asking, other than I care about you. You’re happy here?” Scott asks.

Isaac doesn’t answer for a long time.

“I’m not sure.”

And then, turning to face him now: “The happiest I’ve been in a long time was seeing you in my apartment. Everything about that first night actually, including staying up too late because I was catching up with you and Malia. It finally felt like I was part of a pack again. It was like I was holding my breath, then you showed up and I could let it out. But how do I know this will all work out? What if I go back and it doesn’t feel good as this week has, if we could have just had our time here and that was enough?”

“It won’t be enough for me. I came here because I missed you and it will really suck to go back and keep missing you. This isn’t a one-time thing for me. I care about you, Isaac, and you will always be a part of my pack, even if you stay here.”

A soft sigh comes from Isaac. “I think I have to stay here.”

“Okay,” Scott says as Isaac turns and starts crying into his shoulder, “Okay.”

***

The taxi ride to the airport sucks. The plane ride home sucks. He spends most of the journey home miserable and crying. Malia at first looks alarmed, then she tries to comfort him. When it still continues, she just sits there and lets him be a mess.

He shouldn’t be surprised, really, that after all of their time apart that Isaac wouldn’t just drop everything to come back to Beacon Hills. They’ve both grown since then, lived different lives. It’s the true romantic in Scott that made him think that maybe, just maybe, he had a chance in hell. He’s had much worse odds against him before.

Mason and Lydia pick them up from the airport, and even though Scott would normally be really happy to see them, he doesn’t feel anything. Mason honks and waves excitedly.

Scott tries to get it together for his friends. He didn’t tell them the whole truth about visiting Isaac, just that he hadn’t seen him in a while and wanted to visit. He’s pretty sure they’ve assumed, at least Lydia has, that it was to ask Isaac to come back to the pack. The other part, the love confession part, he could’ve told them both about but we wants to keep that one close to his chest for a bit. It hurts too much to share.

They can sense something is off, though, because when he and Malia climb into the car Mason and Lydia share a worried expression.

“It’s good to see you two,” Lydia says, reaching over to squeeze Scott’s shoulder. “How was your trip?”

“Yeah, I wanna hear about all the cool stuff you guys got to see,” Mason adds from the driver’s seat. Bless Mason for his skill at reading the room, unlike pretty much anyone else Scott has ever been friends with, except maybe Danny.

Malia starts filling them in on how it was, and she does a good job at avoiding mention of just how close Isaac and Scott were the whole time. Scott stares out the window. He feels a little resentful that the scenery he’s looking at is the road home from the airport and not the beautiful French countryside.

When they get to Scott’s house, Scott is too zoned out to notice what’s happening until both Lydia and Malia also get out of the car. It makes sense that Malia gets out, because her car has been here for the week, but Scott has a feeling that his both of his friends might be staying a bit longer.

“You can go home, Mason,” Lydia is saying, leaning through the open driver’s side window. “I want to catch up a little more with Scott and Malia. Malia will give me a ride home later.”

It’s not very conspicuous, clearly Lydia wants the two of them to tell her things she thinks maybe they’re not ready to tell the rest of the pack yet. Mason is gracious, though, and nods, gives a little salute.

“Yeah, I’ll see you all soon. Let me know if you need anything,” he adds, mostly to Lydia. He pulls out of the driveway. It’s not until they can’t see Mason’s car anymore that Lydia pulls at Scott’s arm to get him to come inside, while Malia handles the bags.

The three of them talk long into the night, telling each other everything, including the plan to retrieve Kira, including what happened with Isaac, plus a million other things that have suddenly become important to share. It’s the opening up to those who know you intimately, who shrug and say, “yeah of course you did that, because you’re you.” It fills up the hole in Scott’s heart with an overwhelming love. The kind of love that lasts forever through the easy catching up of friends, the shared experiences that make talking about life seem like everyone should know how you feel because they’ve seen you feel it before. It softens Scott up, not in the raw, vulnerable way France did, but in a way that feels like strengthening ties.

It reminds him, as he all too often is, of exactly what pack is for.

***

It’s been two and a half weeks since Scott and Malia got back from France and Scott’s been trying to be more positive, but he has to admit the trip has still been getting him down. He’s been trying not to show it because he doesn’t want to alarm anyone. Lydia and Malia have already been checking in with him every chance they get. It wouldn’t be fair for anyone in the pack to have to take on the bone-deep sadness he feels; everyone has already dealt with their own losses.

They’re in the middle of a pack meeting at his house, pretty much everyone there, even the out-of-towners, so they don’t notice it at first. They all really should’ve, especially the wolves, but the discussion distracts them. Scott and Malia, without revealing too much about _exactly_ why, have been trying to get more information about the Skin Walkers and how getting Kira to come back might go.

So when the doorbell rings, Melissa has already gone to answer it before anyone can say something. The pack all tense at the smell of an unfamiliar wolf. The non-wolves look around confusedly for an explanation.

Scott has already gone to answer the door behind her. The scent, for him, is still _pack._

“I didn’t know we were expecting anyone,” Mason says.

“We weren’t,” Derek says, alarm slowly turning to confusion.

Melissa opens the door and covers a hand to her mouth, starts crying. In front of her is a tall blonde wolf with some suitcases sitting on the front walk behind him and a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Scott comes up and puts his hands on his mom’s shoulders. He can hear the pack in the living room, all of them with quick heartbeats, not understanding yet what’s going on.

“Perfect timing,” the wolf says sheepishly, offering Melissa the flowers. Smiles shyly, but it’s still charming. “These are for you.”

“Oh honey, they’re beautiful,” Melissa says. She takes the flowers with shaking hands.

And then Isaac starts crying too, but he’s smiling, kind of like in the clinic when he first learned he could take pain away. The same wonder at being able to do something that could help someone so simply yet profoundly. Scott can feel the affection radiating off Isaac in waves for Melissa, as well as hers for him. She hugs Isaac with the flowers still in her hands, and then holds him out at arm’s length.

“You couldn’t have at least _called_?” Before Isaac can respond she shakes her head fondly and says, “Come in, come in. You know, you’re actually the one with perfect timing right now. The whole gang is here.”

Melissa steps aside to let Isaac in, pauses when she sees Isaac isn’t following her down the hall. And then she sees Scott and Isaac staring at each other, laughs a little to herself, and says, “I’m gonna go put these in a vase.”

“So,” Isaac says, crowding into Scott’s space. He takes Scott’s hands into his. The serious look Isaac is giving Scott makes Scott nervous, but in an exciting way.

“Is it okay if I stay here for a bit? I kind of moved here from another country on short notice, so I didn’t exactly have time to find a new apartment.”

Scott bursts out laughing, which he thinks was Isaac’s intention, because the nerves have calmed down a bit.

“Just like the old days,” Scott says, still a little too stunned to know if what he just said made sense.

“Yes,” Isaac says with a smile. “And just as angsty as the old days too. But seriously, Scott. As soon as you left, I thought, ‘_What the hell did I just do?_’ I never wanted to let you go again, so I’m not sure why I did. I thought I was doing okay missing you, but the feelings just came back ten times stronger. And then I would’ve followed you immediately after but I had to quit my job, pack up my stuff, say goodbye to my roommates. You know, all the stuff I didn’t have to do five years ago. I want to be with you too. Screw taking it slow; we have all those years to catch up on.”

The whole world slows down as Isaac leans down. All Scott can hear is a rushing sound in his ears, a _whoosh_ that overrides everything else. Scott leans up and….it’s probably the sweetest first kiss he’s ever had. Isaac kisses him and gently cups Scott’s face. They pull apart only a few moments later but it’s okay because Scott knows now, they do have time. He feels overwhelmingly happy about it.

And then Malia calls from the living room, “Scoooott! Bring him in here!”

Laughing, Scott tugs Isaac along behind him.

***

Scott’s not sure to expect when he and Isaac stand in the doorframe to the living room, but he’s not sure if complete silence was it. It turns out, the silence is only for a moment before everyone starts trying to talk at the same time.

“Who-“

“Isaac!?”

“What the-“

“I can’t-“

“Quiet!” Malia yells. “One at a time guys, god.”

“Hey guys, I’m back,” Isaac says sheepishly. There’s an uproar of voices again.

Scott steps aside to let whoever wants to talk to Isaac. Chris comes up to give him a hug; Sheriff, Derek, and Braeden all come up to talk to Isaac too. Scott catches Isaac saying, “Really, Derek, it’s okay,” before Scott has to pull his attention to his friends.

“You’re not surprised about this,” Stiles says to Malia, eyes narrowing.

“Of course she isn’t,” Lydia says, “I’m not either. Maybe if you paid attention as much as you used to.”

It’s half teasing, half pointed comment, just like most of what Lydia says. It’s also not really fair, because she’s seen him in person since France and they’ve had a chance to talk about it. But Lydia has always sort of enjoyed having an air of condescension, especially when she thinks her friends are being ridiculous. Stiles’ mouth falls open in annoyance.

“Who is this guy?” Hayden asks. Thank god for her, because she redirects the conversation. Scott can feel how grumpy Stiles is about all of this, and it makes him sort of uncomfortable, because he’s not sure where they stand now, doesn’t know how to act when the _best_ part of best friend starts to fade, like it has for a while. He still should’ve filled Stiles in on Isaac. He will later for sure, but for now he’s relieved Hayden defused whatever explosion was about to happen.

“One of Scott’s old friends,” Liam says. “Before he met all of us.”

“Scott,” Mason says shaking his head. “When you got back I had my suspicions, but you couldn’t have told a guy you also liked guys? I’ve spent a long time thinking I was the only one in the pack.”

“Sorry Mase,” Scott replies, wincing. “I thought it was kind of obvious I was into whoever, but now that I think about it, yeah I should’ve said something. We can talk about it later, if you want?”

“If it helps, I like girls,” Malia says.

“Me too,” says Lydia.

“Ohhh my god,” Mason says, knocking his head against Liam’s shoulder a few times. “Really, guys?”

“To be fair, for a while life or death was taking up a lot of our time in high school,” Lydia says. “Romance was a weird, weird thing back then. I don’t have any excuses for after that, though.”

“We’re definitely all talking about this later,” Mason mutters.

“Hey buddy, I tell you everything,” Liam says with a comforting pat to Mason’s shoulder.

“Yeah, and a lot of it he doesn’t need to know,” Hayden says.

“What I wanna know,” Stiles interjects loudly, and damn, he apparently wasn’t defused, “is why you kept this a secret from all of us. From me. Because apparently you told Malia and Lydia! It doesn’t make sense, okay? I get that he’s always been freakishly in love with you, he was always staring at you too much back then, but when did you have time to start anything with him? You pretty much went straight from Allison to Kira. And now you guys are suddenly star-crossed lovers, oceans apart, pining away for years? Yeah, give me a break. Something doesn’t add up. ”

Across the room, Isaac shoots Scott a pained glance. Scott frowns sympathetically but can’t do much else before someone else is talking to Isaac again, taking his attention away. He rubs a hand over his forehead; Stiles’ outburst has made him even more overwhelmed. Scott would have thought that werewolf healing would take care of headaches, but now he knows exactly why Derek looked so pained the entire first two years he knew him. Scott doesn’t know how guilty he should feel right now, or the best way to defuse the situation. The relationship strain on him and Stiles that happened in the last part of high school never really fully recovered, leaving Scott unsure of his footing at times like these, when before he would know exactly what to do. Thankfully, the others have never been shy at expressing their opinions.

“Well.” Lydia says, eyes wide and lips pursed.

“Yikes,” Malia contributes.

“Not a good look, Stiles,” Hayden adds.

Stiles looks around at everyone angrily. For a second it seems like he’s going to keep going. Not finding any support, he storms out of the house. No one makes a move to follow him.

“He needs to work on his anger issues,” Liam says solemnly into the silence, and Scott can’t figure out if it’s meant to be a joke or not.

“I’m sure once he blows off steam he’ll want to talk to you,” Mason reassures.

“He’s being a prick, but if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll get over himself,” Lydia says, and Malia shrugs as if to say _she’s not wrong._

Scott kind of wants to scream. Stiles’ reaction is making what should’ve been a completely happy moment for him a lot more complicated. They’re going to need a long conversation later to sort out all of these resentful feelings that have built up between them, some of which Scott doesn’t even remember the beginning of. He remembers a long ago conversation with Deaton, about things returning to the middle, never truly falling on one side of the scale of good or bad for long. Since Scott spent so long pining away for Isaac only to find out his feelings were reciprocated, maybe someone else in his life needs to balance the scale the opposite way. It doesn’t do a great job of reassuring him, but it’s a start. He might be able to tip the scale slightly in his favor for a while, just enough to figure some things out.

For the rest of the day, though, Scott hides from the pack in the kitchen, trying to get rid of his pounding headache.

***

It takes a while for the pack to leave with the fuss that Isaac’s arrival stirred up, but eventually they’ve all trickled out. Scott’s mom heats up leftovers and the three of them sit on the couch to watch a movie together. It’s a weirdly normal thing to do after the day they’ve had. The house is quiet as they settle into their seats and focus their attention on the tv; they’ll have a chance to catch up more later. For now, this gives the three of them a chance to decompress, plus Melissa has a shift in the morning. There are a lot of things Scott wants to ask his mom about right now, including about him and Stiles, not telling Mason about his sexuality, rescuing Kira and feeling sad for Malia…but he doesn’t want to make the long day any longer.

As soon as the credits start rolling, Melissa stands up and stretches.

“Well, boys, I’m gonna head to bed. Don’t stay up too late now-”

“-Is what you used to tell us in high school, ma,” Scott says, smiling. “I know it doesn’t look like it, but I promise we’re responsible adults now.”

“Mhm,” Melissa says with an eyebrow raise. And then her expression softens as she adds, “Isaac, I’ve said this before, but it was a long time ago so I think I need to repeat it. You’re welcome to stay here for as long as you’d like. I have a hunch I don’t have to set up the guest room this time, though?”

Scott laughs and says, “Mom, go to bed.”

Isaac gives a little smile and says, “Thank you, Melissa.”

And what it means is, _you treated me like a second son at a time when I had no one else to do that for me. _And _I may have lost my dad but I found a mom through all of it. _And _words could never express how much I appreciate you._

But it doesn’t need to be said, because they all know it. Isaac may have been gone for a long time, yet it doesn’t erase what had been built up years before: the sense of ease that comes with belonging to a family. The rush of emotions that surges up in Scott almost makes him start crying again for what feels like the millionth time in the past few weeks. He swallows them down, though, and nudges Isaac’s shoulder with his own.

“We should head to bed too; you need to rest after travelling all day.”

“Okay.” Isaac ruffles Scott’s hair with a smile, then slowly stands up. He stretches his long arms above his head casually. “Which one is your room again?”

Scott scoffs like he’s actually offended. “Doesn’t matter if I lock you out.”

“Not if I get there first.”

Scott notices the way Isaac tenses, so he springs over the back of the couch. The two of them race up the stairs like they’re kids, jostling to be the first one to enter Scott’s room. One of them accidentally sends Scott’s door flying open, making it smash into the wall with a loud bang.

“The house isn’t supernatural, boys!” Melissa calls, which makes Scott and Isaac start snickering. Scott quietly shuts the door behind him.

***

“Chris told me he was proud of me,” Isaac says, blinking. Even though he’s technically the bigger of the two, he’s curled into Scott’s side with his head resting on Scott’s chest. The way Isaac looks reminds Scott of something vulnerable and soft, like a baby duckling. It feels surreal that they’re lying on the exact same bed they did five years ago, just like they used to, except a lot better.

“There’s a lot to be proud of,” Scott says sincerely. “You turned your life around for the better. You needed the kind of healing that’s not just physical and you were strong enough to make it happen. I mean, that’s something I have to work on all the time. Honestly, it’s really hard. You’re pretty amazing, Isaac.”

“I feel like I ran away, which is kind of cowardly. Typical of who I am, apparently.”

“Are you kidding?” Scott asks. “All the stuff that happened in high school? You faced all of it along with the rest of us. And I think knowing what you need and following through with it is pretty brave.”

“Not everyone thinks so,” Isaac says. “I don’t even know if I think that. But your pack-“

“Our pack.”

“…they might think that I kind of suck. For not staying here to help you or to be a part of the pack. I probably seem unreliable.”

“Who would think you suck? All the adults love you. Malia loves you and you two haven’t even been friends for that long. Liam and Mason and Hayden are one hundred percent gonna love you, especially if you tell them about all the shit we used to get up to.”

Isaac doesn’t say anything. Scott raises his eyebrows.

“Do you mean Stiles? Don’t worry about him; he’s just jealous.”

“He’s your best friend, Scott. And he does not like me. Don’t even try to lie, I can tell, remember?”

Scott sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “It’s complicated, dude.”

Isaac shifts his head up to get a better look at Scott.

“More complicated than not talking to someone for years and then showing up in the foreign country where he lives without warning?”

“Uh…okay no. But. It’s different now, me and him. Because of what he’s doing, I see him the least out of the whole pack, except like, Derek. I might even see Derek more, actually. And we don’t talk as much as we used to. Nothing really happened, we’re just growing up. And maybe apart? We’ll always be like brothers, but I think we’re on different paths now. And what he said earlier was way out of line, because I think he’s feeling that tension too. And it makes him feel insecure.”

“Interesting,” is all Isaac says. Scott can’t quite tell what Isaac is thinking about what he said, and it makes him a little nervous. He tries to reassure himself by thinking about how much time he and Isaac will have to talk about this, to talk about everything. Isaac will share his thoughts in his own time.

“You know, I like the newbies” Isaac says, changing the subject, “They have a lot of attitude. I love a good troublemaker.”

“Just like you,” Scott smiles.

They talk about the new additions to the pack for a while, Scott filling Isaac in on who’s who and what’s happened. He wants Isaac to feel like he belongs here, like he’s still part of the pack.

They come to a pause in the conversation, just the sound of the fan and Isaac’s breathing. Scott is lost in thought, remembering how only a month ago he and Malia were sitting in a similar comfortable silence. Then Isaac says, “So what do we do now?”

The way he says it, Scott knows he doesn’t mean for the night, or the next day. He only has to think about it for a second, though. It feels like he and Isaac have picked up right where they left off, only a little bit closer in some really important ways. So it’s natural to him when he replies, “Well, we find Kira. After you, that was at the top of my priorities list. Me and Malia gotta bring her back, and if you decide you want to come…just think about it. And then, after that, when I start school in the fall, you can move in with me. I don’t know what you’ll want to do, but there are a lot of options. You could go back to school, if you wanted, or find a job somewhere. Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out.”

Isaac smiles warmly and says, “Sounds like a plan. I trust you, Scott.”

It’s not an _I love you_, not quite yet, but it feels like a promise of what is yet to come. Scott couldn’t be happier.

**Author's Note:**

> title from mineshaft by dessa <3


End file.
